


Stop Me if You've Heard This One

by peepingnee



Category: Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Advent Challenge, Christmas Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:13:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21823471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peepingnee/pseuds/peepingnee
Summary: Done for drawlights Advent Prompts 2019 - Laughter
Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 24





	Stop Me if You've Heard This One

**Author's Note:**

> This is just some quick silly fluff and a very rusty attempt at coming back from writing retirement. Done for @drawlights Advent Calander a day late "Laughter" 
> 
> So many, many, many thanks to @ziggyz-eyepatch for being my beta and for encouraging me to write again. Even if I never posted anything that I wrote I'd still be greatful that you pushed me back into something I used to love ❤️

It starts like this –

There is a fire in the hearth at Jasmine Cottage. Friends are milling about drinking mulled wine (hot cider for The Them.) There’s biscuits and cake and snow falling gently past the windows. The adults are huddled together over a table of a spread of holiday goodies while sharing jokes and laughing with the buzz of warm alcohol swimming through their veins.

“Okay I’ve got one” Newt proclaimed, “Why are Christmas trees so bad at sewing?” He looked over at Anathema with a dopey grin “Because they keep dropping their needles!”

Anathema rolled her eyes at him but couldn’t contain the tiny giggle from her throat.

Tracy was suddenly over eager to tipsily tell a pun of her own. “Ooh! Ooh! What do you call a cow that lives in an Igloo?” Tracy's eyes danced with glee “an eski-mooooo!"

Laughter erupted from the gathering.

“Oi', angel!” Crowley nudged Aziraphel who was standing beside him biscuit raised halfway to his mouth. “Tell 'em that one.” As though Aziraphel would just KNOW what he was talking about. “You know…the one?” He was smiling and swaying just a tad.

Aziraphel pensively bit into his biscuit combing his memory and then “Ah yes!”

“आयुःप्रश्ने दीर्घमायुर्वाच्यं मौहूर्तिकैर्जनैः

जीवन्तो बहुमन्यन्ते मृताः प्रक्ष्यन्ति कं पुनः"

The two immortal beings burst into laughter. Crowley reached up to wipe a tear from under his glasses as the rest of the group raised their eyebrows at the pair.

“No, you see it’s funny because they're DEAD!” Crowley gasped between laughter now hanging off of Aziraphale's shoulder.

It took another minute for the two of them to stop since every time they looked at each other the laughter would pick back up. Eventually their laughter died down and they glanced at everyone who was shuffling awkwardly around the table.

“Oh dear, I guess you needed to have been there” Aziraphel smiled and winked at Crowley.

“Riiiiiiight.” Anathema gave them a fond smile. Around them the party continued into the night but whenever Crowley and Aziraphel's eyes met, they would laugh about a joke in a dead language known only to them. A laugh that belonged to just Aziraphale and Crowley that night.

**Author's Note:**

> Full disclosure I googled "jokes in dead languages" and got this one in Sanskrit.
> 
> Rough joke translation – When asked by people ‘How long will I live?’, answer them with ‘A long life!’  
> Those who live will consider you great; the dead will not ask a second time.


End file.
